Using the limited time in meetings efficiently

A secure and transparent solution that avoids paper clutter is the meeting management tool "Online Meeting" developed by BCT Germany, which can be used to prepare, distribute and follow up information based on deadlines. As an independent component, it can be integrated into an ECM platform via Open APIs or used as a separate system. It is particularly useful in meeting-intensive environments. With it, works councils, management and the like can hold both real and virtual meetings in a structured and thus effective manner at any time. The meeting itself, but also the company processes, are optimized, resources are planned sensibly and the organizational effort is reduced to the essential elements. Only authorized users with appropriate access rights can participate, so Online Meeting provides a secure working environment. Information relevant to the meeting can be digitally linked to the general agenda or to specific agenda items. This includes documents, images and graphics. In addition, a brief summary of the meeting in question and the individual topics can be formulated in advance and made available to the participants. And during the meeting, the software can be used to create digital minutes. This means that all important information can be accessed at any time and from any location without any detours. A paper archive, in which old, possibly handwritten and illegible minutes are stored, is no longer necessary.

Using the past for future decisions

In addition to the benefit of meetings being more structured and inevitably more efficient, long-term transparency plays an important role. For this purpose BCT Germany has integrated the function "Topic specific sorting" into its online meeting tool. It serves the sustainable documentation and follow-up of resolutions and ways of decision making. All milestones, including date and summary, are offered in the form of a timeline: Each agenda item is always related to a specific topic that may have been discussed earlier, albeit in a different context. However, participants can access the agenda - including notes, documents, etc. - as well as track how meetings and their results, for example on a new product, have developed over the long term. Whether it's the linking of current agenda items with topics already discussed or the traceable decision-making process - previous processes always also serve to prepare future agreements.

Conclusion

Meetings are key to success when the valuable and scarce time of participants and decision-makers is used efficiently. Meetings should therefore be well organized and prepared. A transparent and secure solution is the meeting management tool "Online Meeting": The software digitizes and professionalizes meetings. These are stored centrally, can be linked to agenda items and thus provide an essential basis for decisions. Thanks to the option of topic-specific sorting in the form of a timeline, decision paths and results from past meetings can also be incorporated into the current decision-making process. Ad-hoc decisions based on incomplete information are prevented.